In November of the eleventh year of Zhenguan (637), when Wu Zetian was fourteen years old, Tang Taizong heard that she had beautiful appearance and demeanor, summoned her into the palace, and was named a five-grade talent, and was given the name "Wu Mei", and later generations falsely called Wu Meiniang. Before entering the palace, Wu Zetian said goodbye to his widowed mother Yang: "The saint of tomorrow who serves, how can you know that it is not a blessing? Why do you weep and weep like children? ”[6]

For Wu Zetian's life in the palace during the Tang Taizong period, the history books do not describe it in detail, only Wu Zetian recalled that he tamed the horse for Taizong in his later years. Taizong had a horse named Lion Skull, fat and capricious, and no one could tame it. Wu Zetian was serving on the side at that time and said to Tang Taizong: "I can subdue it, but I need three things: one is an iron whip, the second is an iron rod, and the third is a dagger." If you don't accept it, you hit it on the head with an iron rod, and if you don't accept it, you cut its throat with a dagger. Tang Taizong praised Wu Zetian's ambition. [7]

But Wu Zetian was not favored by Tang Taizong, and he was a talented person for 12 years, but his status was never improved, and during Tang Taizong's serious illness, Wu Zetian and the crown prince Li Zhi established a relationship.

In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Taizong of the Tang Dynasty died, and Wu Zetian entered the Ganye Temple in Chang'an as a nun with some of the concubines who had no children according to the example of the Tang harem, but she and the new emperor Li Zhi have been disconnected. [8]

Re-enter the palace

In May of the first year of Yonghui (650), when Tang Gaozong entered the Ganye Temple on the anniversary of Taizong's death, he met Wu Zetian again, and the two recognized each other and told each other about their feelings of longing after parting. [8]

In the second year of Yonghui (651), Empress Wang, who had fallen out of favor because she had no children, took the initiative to ask Gaozong to include Wu Zetian in the palace, in an attempt to attack her rival Concubine Xiao Shu. [9] Li Zhi had already intended this and immediately agreed.

In May of the second year of Yonghui (651), Tang Gaozong's filial piety clothes were full, and Wu Zetian entered the palace again. After Wu Zetian returned to the palace, he did quickly defeat Concubine Xiao Shu and won the favor of Li Zhi, and in May of the following year (652), he was worshiped as the second rank Zhaoyi. At that time, Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu often competed with Wu Zhaoyi for favor and said bad things about each other, but Li Zhi didn't listen.

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